Jury fix: Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John Russo visited the jury room before a scheduled trial to say hello. One juror was just exiting the men’s room and told the judge that the handle on the toilet was broken.

“I’m so sorry,” Russo responded, promising to have maintenance check on it as soon as possible. The judge then informed his staff of the problem and went to deal with some court business on the bench. When he returned to the jury room to ask if maintenance had arrived, another juror told him the problem was fixed.

“I had to go and I’m kinda handy. I tightened the handle,” he told the judge.

The handle was literally juror-rigged.

That ought to have qualified him to be dismissed from jury duty. It didn’t. But the defendant copped a plea before trial and the jury was sent back to the jury room – presumably to check the plumbing there. 

Whose cookie crumbles?: This may be not be the most accurate presidential poll in history, but it’s definitely one of the sweetest. No annoying robocalls. In fact, in this poll, you don’t even answer any questions: It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full.

Constantino’s Market in Cleveland’s Warehouse District and Uptown is keeping track of sales of each candidate’s favorite cookie, as featured in the 2012 Family Circle First Ladies’ Cookie Bakeoff.

For President Barack Obama: A traditional chocolate chip cookie with the non-traditional addition of white, milk and mint chocolate chips.

For Republican Challenger Mitt Romney: A traditional chocolate chip cookie with the non-traditional addition of oats, peanut butter and M&Ms.

Customers have been choosing between the cookies with their purchases since October 6.

Unaccounted for? Broken? You might say that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, but Tipoff (a big fan of peanut butter and M & Ms) demands a recount. Time to take a close look at all those hanging chips. 

* The East Ohio Building in Cleveland, for its association with the utility founded by John D. Rockefeller and for its local architectural significance as an example of the post-World War II International Style.

* The Herold Building at 310 Prospect Ave. in Cleveland, as an example of the small-scale commercial buildings built on Prospect Avenue in the early 20th century and as a surviving example of the use of structural glass panels with trade names such as “Carrara Glass” and “Vitrolite” to modernize older commercial buildings in the 1930s and 1940s.

* The Kendel Building at 210 Prospect, originally built for A.C. Kendel’s Seed Store, as an example of the small-scale commercial buildings built along Prospect Avenue in the early 20th century.

* John Carroll University’s North Quad Historic District in University Heights, for its significance in community planning and education.

* A proposed West 25th Street-Detroit Avenue historic district in Cleveland, as it reflects the changing urban landscape from the 1830s to 1950s and the impact of major transportation advances including construction of the Superior Viaduct in 1878 and opening of the Detroit-Superior (Veterans Memorial) Bridge in 1917.

* Globe Machine & Stamping Co. on West 76th Street in Cleveland, for its association with local labor history.

* The building that housed the Record Rendezvous store on Prospect Avenue in Cleveland.

Record Rendezvous’s history in building the Rock’n’Roll capital’s reputation is the justification for putting the building at 300 Prospect on the register, according to the board, which noted it’s owner, Leo Mintz.

“Mintz sold rock and roll records in the early 1950s, when the music was in its infancy. He was responsible for securing a slot on Cleveland’s WJW radio for now-legendary deejay Alan Freed in 1951, and for establishing the show’s rhythm and blues programming, with most of the records pulled from the racks of Record Rendezvous,” the board wrote.

“Record Rendezvous also sponsored and promoted Freed’s live concerts in Cleveland, including the March 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball, widely regarded as the world’s first rock and roll concert.”

Mintz died in 1976 and Record Rendezvous closed in 1987, but their legend my get a perpetual encore. 

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